Assembly Development Setup

Get your development environment ready for authentic retro assembly programming. Choose your system and follow the step-by-step setup guide.

Choose Your System

👆

Select a system above to see setup instructions

Commodore 64 Development Setup

The C64 uses the 6502 processor. We'll use ACME as our primary assembler - it's free, cross-platform, and produces authentic C64 programs.

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

# Windows (using Chocolatey)
choco install acme-crossassembler vice

# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install acme vice

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install acme vice

This installs ACME assembler and VICE emulator for testing your programs.

✍️ Your First C64 Program

Create a file called hello.asm:

; hello.asm - Your first C64 assembly program
* = $0801

; BASIC stub to make program runnable
!byte $0c, $08, $0a, $00, $9e, $20, $32, $30, $36, $34, $00, $00, $00

; Main program starts here
start:
    lda #$93        ; Clear screen character
    jsr $ffd2       ; Call KERNAL print routine
    
    ldx #0          ; Initialize index
print_loop:
    lda message,x   ; Load character from message
    beq done        ; If zero, we're done
    jsr $ffd2       ; Print character
    inx             ; Next character
    jmp print_loop  ; Continue loop
    
done:
    rts             ; Return to BASIC

message:
    !text "HELLO FROM ASSEMBLY!"
    !byte 0         ; String terminator

Success! You should see "HELLO FROM ASSEMBLY!" printed on the C64 screen. This program demonstrates loading values, calling KERNAL routines, and creating loops.

ZX Spectrum Development Setup

The ZX Spectrum uses the Z80 processor. We'll use z88dk as our primary toolchain - it includes assembler, C compiler, and extensive Spectrum libraries.

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

# Windows: Download installer from z88dk.org
# Extract and run setup.exe

# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install z88dk

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install z88dk

Also install Fuse emulator for testing: brew install fuse-emulator

✍️ Your First Spectrum Program

Create a file called hello.asm:

; hello.asm - Your first ZX Spectrum assembly program
    org 32768       ; Start address ($8000)

start:
    ; Clear screen with black paper, white ink
    ld a, %00000111 ; White ink, black paper
    ld (23693), a   ; Store in ATTR_P (permanent attributes)
    call 3503       ; Call ROM routine CLS (clear screen)
    
    ; Print message
    ld hl, message  ; Point to message string
    ld bc, msg_end - message ; Length of message
    call print_string
    
    ; Wait for keypress then return to BASIC
    call wait_key
    ret

print_string:
    ld a, (hl)      ; Get character
    rst 16          ; Print it (ROM routine)
    inc hl          ; Next character
    dec bc          ; Decrement counter
    ld a, b         ; Check if BC = 0
    or c
    jr nz, print_string
    ret

wait_key:
    call 949        ; ROM routine WAIT_KEY
    ret

message:
    defb "Hello from Z80 Assembly!"
msg_end:

Success! You should see "Hello from Z80 Assembly!" on the Spectrum screen. This program demonstrates memory addressing, ROM calls, and string handling.

Commodore Amiga Development Setup

The Amiga uses the Motorola 68000 processor. We'll use VASM as our assembler - it's actively maintained and produces authentic Amiga executables.

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

# Download VASM from official site
# http://sun.hasenbraten.de/vasm/

# macOS/Linux: Compile from source
make CPU=m68k SYNTAX=mot
sudo make install

# Windows: Download pre-compiled binaries

Also install FS-UAE emulator for testing your programs.

✍️ Your First Amiga Program

Create a file called hello.s:

; hello.s - Your first Amiga 68000 assembly program
    section text,code

start:
    ; Open DOS library
    move.l  4.w,a6          ; Get ExecBase
    lea     dosname(pc),a1  ; DOS library name
    moveq   #0,d0           ; Any version
    jsr     -552(a6)        ; OpenLibrary
    move.l  d0,dosbase      ; Store DOS base
    
    ; Print message
    move.l  dosbase(pc),a6  ; Get DOS base
    move.l  #message,d1     ; Message pointer
    jsr     -948(a6)        ; PutStr
    
    ; Exit cleanly
    moveq   #0,d0           ; Return code
    rts

; Data section
    section data,data
    
dosname:
    dc.b    'dos.library',0

message:
    dc.b    'Hello from 68000 Assembly!',10,0

; BSS section for uninitialized data
    section bss,bss

dosbase:
    ds.l    1

Success! You should see "Hello from 68000 Assembly!" in the Amiga CLI. This program demonstrates library calls, memory addressing, and AmigaOS integration.

Nintendo Entertainment System Development Setup

The NES uses the 6502 processor. We'll use cc65 as our primary toolchain - it includes an assembler, C compiler, and linker specifically designed for 6502 systems.

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

# macOS (using Homebrew)
brew install cc65

# Windows: Download installer from cc65.github.io
# Extract and add to PATH

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install cc65

Also install FCEUX emulator for testing: brew install fceux

✍️ Your First NES Program

Create a file called hello.s:

; hello.s - Your first NES 6502 assembly program
.segment "HEADER"
    .byte $4E, $45, $53, $1A    ; "NES" signature
    .byte $01                   ; PRG ROM chunks
    .byte $01                   ; CHR ROM chunks
    .byte $00                   ; Control byte 1
    .byte $00                   ; Control byte 2

.segment "STARTUP"

Reset:
    ; Initialize the NES
    SEI             ; Disable interrupts
    CLD             ; Clear decimal mode
    LDX #$FF
    TXS             ; Reset stack pointer
    
    ; Wait for PPU warmup
    LDX #$02
WarmupLoop:
    BIT $2002       ; Read PPU status
    BPL WarmupLoop  ; Wait for VBlank
    DEX
    BNE WarmupLoop
    
    ; Clear PPU memory
    LDA $2002       ; Reset PPU address latch
    LDA #$20        ; Name table high byte
    STA $2006
    LDA #$00        ; Name table low byte
    STA $2006
    
    LDX #$04        ; Clear 4 screens
ClearLoop:
    STA $2007       ; Write to PPU
    INY
    BNE ClearLoop
    DEX
    BNE ClearLoop
    
    ; Enable PPU
    LDA #%10000000  ; Enable NMI
    STA $2000
    LDA #%00011110  ; Enable sprites and background
    STA $2001
    
MainLoop:
    JMP MainLoop    ; Infinite loop

; Interrupt vectors
.segment "VECTORS"
    .word 0         ; NMI
    .word Reset     ; Reset
    .word 0         ; IRQ

Success! This creates a minimal NES ROM that initializes the system properly. This program demonstrates NES startup sequence, PPU initialization, and memory clearing.

Common Development Tools

These tools are useful across all vintage computing systems for development, debugging, and project management.

Code Editors

VS Code: Excellent assembly syntax highlighting and debugging
Vim/Neovim: Lightweight with powerful assembly plugins
Sublime Text: Fast editing with assembly syntax packages
Atom: Community packages for retro development

Version Control

Git: Essential for tracking code changes
GitHub/GitLab: Share and collaborate on projects

Hex Editors

HxD (Windows): Free, powerful hex editor
Hex Fiend (macOS): Fast, native hex editor
xxd (Linux/macOS): Command-line hex dumping
ImHex: Cross-platform modern hex editor

Choose Your System

Commodore 64 Development Setup

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

✍️ Your First C64 Program

ZX Spectrum Development Setup

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

✍️ Your First Spectrum Program

Commodore Amiga Development Setup

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

✍️ Your First Amiga Program

Nintendo Entertainment System Development Setup

🚀 Quick Start (Recommended)

✍️ Your First NES Program

Common Development Tools

Code Editors

Version Control

Hex Editors

Start Learning